Acid reflex in a 3 month old?

Question

My daughter is 3 1/2 months old and we just found out (after two horrible weeks) that she has GERD or acid reflex. They put her on medicine but the medicine hasn't stopped her cough and I think she might be having an allergic reaction to it. Is there anything I can do besides the medicine?

Answer 1

i think others gave enough information , but i must comment on some of their answers ;
first there is one(imgonna tellyou) who said that reflux in children is made up by drug companies , i must say to her that its better not to spread ones ignorance especially where the well beingof another human is concerned .
then (mysticeyeda) says that it doesnt cause cough , i must tell you that not only does it cause cough , acid reflux is actually a major culprit behind a large percentage of ASTHMA conditions .

anyway , i know your physician will do his best in prescribing adequate medicine , so i will not waste time by givin information you can easily get from your doctor or by simply typing acid reflux in google .
here are some simple tips i hope will be useful :

reflux means (flowing backwards) and in acid reflux it refers to stomach acid going back and up the esophagus where it burns the lining of the esophagus giving severe heart burn and sometimes bleeding.
if the acid comes as high as the larynx it causes severe cough by irritation , and if more goes down the windpipe it might give asthma or pneumonia .
from that one gathers that the basic problem is the flowing back which is better understood if you compare the stomach to a plastic bottle full of acid .
ask yourself:what will make the fluid in the bottle come out of it?

1. obviously if it is OVERFILLED the fluid will flow back , so AVOID FEEDING BABY TILL FULL ,rather , GIVE MULTIPLE SMALL FEEDS .

2.anything that presses the bottle (like in a ketchup bottle) will cause the fluid to spurt from the top .
AVOID CLOTHING BABY IN TIGHT CLOTHES.this will increase intra-abdominal pressure causing pressure on the stomach ,eventually overcoming the VALVE in top of stomach .

3.another obvious cause we get from the bottle analogy is when the bottle is NOT UPRIGHT it will spill , so
AVOID LYING THE BABY DOWN AFTER FEEDING FOR AT LEAST ONE AND A HALF HOURS. keep the baby in sitting position after every feed for at least one or one and a half hours .

(i dont know why i got a thumbs down , all im doing is some councelling , which is as important if not more important than actual medication)

these tips though simple enough ,are iportant to know because they can SPARE some of the medication needed to control the condition , in fact if carried out might remove the need for regular medication .

of course im sure you know the medication for such a condition consists of these categories of drugs
1 antacids that neutralize the acid and are minimally absorbed , they are the safest.
2.hydrogen pump blockers reduce the production of the acid and are the most effective (like omeprazole and lanoprazole)
3.histamine receptor blockers are also effective but have some side effects.
4 .prokinetic drugs : like metoclopramide encourage the stomach to push its contents forward . very effective but not suitable for children and babies and genrally not suitable for prolonged use .

it is obvious you are a caring , nurturing person and i congratulate you on that . keep up the good work !
do not worry , if you implement these tips , use medicine as needed , your child will most likely grow out of the problem when the VALVE MUSCLES in her stomach become strong enough to prevent the contents from backflowing .
good luck.

Answer 2

My daughter had INSANE acid reflux, but it's very typical with preemies (she's a micropreemie, born 3 months early). They tried numerous meds on her while she was in the hospital for 4 months...finally they found that Reglan and Prevacid worked best for her and she had no allergic reactions to it. Now at 10 1/2 months old, she's fine and they took her off her meds about 1-2 months ago. They expected her to have it longer, because she had it SO bad (the nurses said she was one of the worst cases they'd ever seen on a baby...she almost had to have surgery because of it).

What makes you think your daughter has an allergic reaction to the meds? I suggest you talk about this with your daughter. They can try out different meds or tell you if it really IS an allergic reaction, etc. Nothing else works as WELL as meds, but they MAY try all sorts of things...they tried rice cereal in my daughter's bottle when she was only 2-3 months old, as a last resort, but it didn't help much for her...her reflux was too bad. And remember that sometimes it takes the meds a a week or two to really start working. My daughter's cough gradually went away...Prevacid really helped her a lot.

Oh! One thing you could do is get a wedge and put it under the crib mattress...so that the mattress is lifted a bit and helps to keep her kind of laying upright a bit more. Helps a lot.

I'm sorry to hear your daughter has reflux and I hope she gets better soon!

Answer 3

I'm a pharmacy tech and its a really common condition. Also, there are a few different medicines that are out that are used for GERD. The most common is Zantac liquid and I've heard that this helps the best from my customers. Also, If you think your daughter is having an allergic reaction, she needs medical attention quickly. Signs of a reaction would be hives, trouble breathing and irritability. If she has these, give her a 1/4 teaspoonsful of benadryl and take her to the doctor tonight! If she doesn't have these symptoms and with that cough, she could have an irritated, sore throat. Give her a 1/2 dropperful of tylenol for the pain and see if she stops coughing. Also, her cough could be from her sinuses draining down her throat and could be irritating her stomach more. Moniter her closely.
I hope this helps, even if its just a little. :)
Congrats! ( I have a 3 month old also)

Answer 4

OMG Yes my son had reflux from the time he was 3 weeks old till almost a year. The only way we could get him to sleep was to lay on my chest while I was in my recliner any other way he would scream and spit-up all night. You may need to get him to see a Gastroenterologist my son was on a double dose of prilosec twice a day before he was not crying at night. I would not recommend try this with out seeing a doctor because when my son was on it it was still a prescription drug. I hope he feels better I know what you are going through . I will say a prayer for you.

Answer 5

I'm in the medical field and yes GERD is VERY common in babies although it is usually misdiagnosed as colic. There are several different types of meds used to treat it, Zantac worked great for my daughter. I saw a dramatic change in less then 24 hours after starting it. We also thickened the formula, which does work great. There is nothing wrong with thickening the formula, Enfamil even makes an AR (add rice) formula for babies that spit up a lot. The Enfamil AR is rice startch instead of rice like the baby rice but it still does the same thing. As my doctor told me, it just depends on whether you yourself want to add the rice or you think it is just easier to have it already in the formula. I added the rice to the formula myself with my three kids that had it, but my sister used the Enfamil AR with hers. GERD is very common in babies and there are tests they can do to determine it. A baby with GERD needs to sleep on their tummy instead of their back, never put a baby with GERD in a car seat or baby swing after a feeding because this will put added pressure on their stomach and will cause a reflux episode. The angle of a bouncy seat is better and will not put as much pressure on the tummy so if you want to put your baby down after eating try this. Use diapers one size larger than what your baby normally would wear and no tight fitting clothing. Burp your baby often and feed more often but less at each feeding. Hope this helps.

Answer 6

There is more than one medication for reflux. Tell her doctor that this one doesn't seem to be working. Her cough may be something else. My 1st born had reflux, but I don't remember a cough with it. He would just throw up his formula. Maybe she needs something for her cough as well. Has the reflux stopped? If not, let the doctor now asap; reflux can cause terrible damage not to mention how uncomfortable she may be.

Answer 7

Keep her upright for at least an hour after feeding and maybe change to a thicker formula like enfamil AR (added rice). thats what i did for my baby.

Answer 8

I've never heard of acid reflux in infants before 5 years ago. I think it's just another ailment that drug marketers came up with.

Stop medicating your kid. Try sweetened condensed milk diluted 1 to 1 and the RDA dose on the POLY-VI-SOL (infant vitamins) and the equivalant of 1/16 teaspoon of clear Karo syurp per 8 ounces. This is the 'formula' from back in the day. Prior to sweetened condensed milk, they used pasturized (heated just above boiling for 1 minute) goat's milk.

My sister-in-law did this for my neice who was "diagnosed" with this new condition that just popped up out of nowhere.

Answer 9

Take her back to the doctor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we can not be responsible for what happens to your daughter, you don't know us. This is a little girl not a stuffed animal.
She might be allergic to the milk she is being given, try soy milk, but first TAKE HER TO THE DOCTOR

Answer 10

i don't buy it. my over-medicated niece was "diagnosed" with this as an infant, too, and given some minute dosage of prilosec. she was formula fed though which in my opinion was what causing her digestive problems.